Deurne Late Roman helmet symposium

[Robert Vermaat]

Chariovalda and myself were invited by Aitor to 'guard his flanks' during a symposium about the Late Roman helmet of Deurne, which went into the swamp around 320 AD and was recovered in 1910.

This event took place last saturday in Meijel, a small village on the Brabant/Limburg border in what can be seen the middle of nowhere. The symposium was held there (and not at some university) because it's the closest to the actual findspot and the finder lived in the village. The find itself has generated many myths about a 'golden knight' or tales of that order, and there is still a lot of passion among the villagers - even now, 96 years later!

Aitor was there to speak about his reconstructions of several of the items found in the assemblage, and among the other speakers were Carol van Driel-Murray (about the leather finds) and Maarten Dolmans (about the Late Roman army).

Click here and scroll down for images.

[Praefectusclassis]

And I got to meet Aitor on Sunday. We visited the Valkhof Museum in Nijmegen together. Thanks for your intervention Robert!

[Robert Vermaat]

My pleasure! Good to know you managed to meet! His driver/guide (Jos Pouls) thought the programme was packed enough already, I had to persuade him a bit...

[Praefectusclassis]

I saw in the picture you were armed. Needed some persuasion?

[Tarbicus]

I saw in the picture you were armed. Needed some persuasion?

Bouncers. "Sorry mate, no jeans or trainers. Smart tunics only."

You all look very cool.

[aitor iriarte]

Hi folks, it was BEAUTIFUL to meet you there!
Now I've returned home, to the drab reality...
(Post-conference depression, I shall recover in a few days! :wink: )

Aitor

[FAVENTIANVS]

Is Maarten Dolmans a new Fectio member?

[Robert Vermaat]

Nope, he's from Legio X Gemina (though if he wants to he can join us!). He probably be there at Archeon.

[Robert Vermaat]

Almost forgot:

I wrote a short report of the event:
http://www.fectio.org.uk/shows/meijel2006.htm